Jumping in with both feet on fruit trees

[ColtyJr]

All this info is so helpful and I thank you all. Can anyone tell me what type of tree this is?

 

[wyojdubya]

Can't help you with identifying that particular tree. But we do have a couple acres of fruit and nut trees in 7a. Best advice I can recommend is get to know your local pests and figure out how to manage them. Also read up on pruning, and (assuming you don't get into grafting) purchase bare root stock.

We're lucky to have only coddling moths, western fruit flies, and squirrels to deal with. The latter are easy. The bugs we've managed with poultry and spinosad.

The fruits of the labor are hard to overvalue. A quart of canned pears at the trailhead after hauling meat, or a bottle of apple cider or glass of blackberry port after basecamp dinner makes the work well worthwhile.

 

[timmymac24]

For what it’s worth I found that 5/10/15 fertilizer at a 1/2 pound per 4” of trunk diameter is the go to. We brought property that came with around 100 established fruit trees. They had been neglected for several years. I have worked at getting them back the past two years and it’s work. Fertilized the drip lines last year and with good weather at the zones 5/6 had a huge crop. Way more fruit than I could get rid of. We spray orchard spray when the buds are the size of mouse ears in the early spring. Pruning as mentioned is key it takes a lot of time but it’s rewarding to see it all happen for fruit production. I’m no expert just several years of citrus farming in so cal so I’m not totally new at the game. PM me if you have any questions I may be able to help. Enjoy

 

[ShortMagFan]

Keep them pruned. I didn’t and had a bumper crop that broke off a bunch of limbs

leave tree shelters on as long as you can. I removed them from some ~8 year old trees and the bucks wore them out. Ended up putting them back on

raccoons will climb your trees to get to pears and are relentless. Coyotes will check under the trees 3-4 times/day when they are dropping and will even jump up and grab low limbs to shake the tree and get fruit

mine drop earlier than I’d hoped (Most before deer season) and a late frost will kill the crop more often than I like in my area

im in central SC

 

[ddd-shooter]

Learn how to CORRECTLY prune. Apples need old growth to fruit, preaches and most stone fruit need new growth. Totally opposite pruning technique.
You’ll prune so much it’ll almost hurt you thinking of all that you’re losing. But you’re not losing, you’re gaining.

Spray regularly for bugs, watch for fungus, and look out for those early warm days that’ll trick your tree into budding out right about the time a killer frost hits… that’s been terrible for us lately.

You’ll probably come to enjoy your berries more, lol. Black and raspberry are nearly impossible to screw up and make great crops, especially in edge areas. So much less work with them. Blueberries are finicky.

All that said, when you pick a ripe fruit, it’s makes it all worth while-you’ll quickly decide who your important friends are when it comes time to share.

 

[ArrowForester]

All this info is so helpful and I thank you all. Can anyone tell me what type of tree this is?

Appears to be a maple of some variety. Quite possibly a sugar maple.

 

[Grumman]

All this info is so helpful and I thank you all. Can anyone tell me what type of tree this is?

If you use an iPhone my son showed me a neat trick. Take a pic of the plant and then hit the starry i button on the photo then hit lookup plant. It will tell you what it is.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stache Attack]

See if any local apiaries would want to set up at your property. I’m in 3b so not much help on variety selection for you. Ants are also great pollinators honestly! As an agronomist I would recommend a soil test looking at nutrient needs and any possible soil property amendments you may need to do from the start!

 

[ColtyJr]

The tree is either a field or sugar maple

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

Silver maple

 

[Customweld]

Kind of off topic, but here is an interesting (I think anyways) video on a forgotten apple orchard in Oregon. There are some varieties of apples that I would like to try.
https://watch.opb.org/video/oregon-field-guide-apple-detectives/

 

[lyingflatlander]

Like previously said, be aware of any disease prevalence around you, fireblight, scab, etc… you may need a fungicide application or schedule. Your also going to discover if a pesticide application or rotation is going to be needed. Wrap your trees to prevent mice and rabbits in the fall and remove in the spring before growing season or you will strangulate the tree. I cage my trees with 6 ft. Welded wire until they are tall enough that the deer won’t eat them. Then do a smaller 4 ft. Welded wire cage around the trunk when the 6 ft. Wire cage is no longer needed so the bucks don’t rub them. Don’t be hard on yourself about any failures, I have done everything wrong at one time or another. Just keep on swinging and you’ll find plenty of enjoyment as you learn to master it. (And after all the frustration)
Another tip is to talk to any botanist available to you. I have contacted our local university via email and found them very happy to answer any questions. Another tip is most places have a farmers market that you can talk up the growers. Most of them are passionate about their craft. Good luck!

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Silver maple

We have a winner. It’s a silver maple. I’m about 100% sure. If it’s not, it’s a Norway(black) maple.

 

[WBrim]

This is good info. This week I dug up my wife’s 3 dead fruit trees. Peach apricot and nectarine. We had rabbits chewing on them and they never did well after that. Granted, they were just 2 year old trees.
So now we try to study up a bit and try again!

 

[ColtyJr]

What is causing this "mold" on my Paw Paw saplings?

 

[wind gypsy]

I planted 19 apple trees over the past couple years primarily for deer food. Feel like I’ve got the variety and rootstock selection, planting, protection, and pruning understood enough but the spraying portion has been overwhelming! I tried to pick very disease resistant varieties for the most part but definitely should get a better grasp on combatting any possible insect issues.

Would my best bet be to contact an extension rep for direction? If anyone has any simple low level recommendations that would be appreciated too.

I have multiples of chestnut crabs, Kerrs, Dolgos, buckman crabs, and red Barons and 1 each of wickson, liberty, enterprise, and hewes crab.

 

[mckbcat2000]

Check out blue hill nursery online. My Dad swears by their Doglo root stock. Learn how to graft. Plant some trees that have drop times that can coincide with deer season. Fence them off. Keep them pruned. My Dad is retired so he has time for all of this and he's dove in head first on his 160 acres. Lots of pear varieties, crabapples, and regular size apples. He's gotten better at the grafting and his success rate has gone up considerably. We have a wild pear tree on our place that bears like a champion. One of the best bucks on our place would be under that tree twice a day in the daylight when pears were on the ground.